An intimate portrait of the natural world ... With clear-eyed urgency and a measure of tenderness, Kolbert chronicles the lives of people trying to hold on to what's slipping away * New Yorker, Best Books of the Year 2025 * Kolberts writing is serious but adroit [ with] just enough wry humour. The necessity of fitting huge subjects into 20 clear pages suits her style. Each essay is pacy, with energising turns ... Kolbert [ is] a necessary voice on the environment * Observer * Kolbert is one of our most important and lucid voices on climate change, and shes been ringing the bell for longer than most. This book ... will be essential * Literary Hub * Elizabeth Kolbert's writing illuminates the world's complexities in vivid colour. No one contextualises the natural world better than she does, and no one is able to describe its many facets better than her -- Harriet Rix, author of The Genius of Trees No one rivals Kolberts ability to write deeply, empathetically and engagingly about mankinds relationship with the physical world ... She brings curiosity and persistence to the most important issues facing humankind -- Chris Goodall, author of What We Need to Do Now There is surely no better way to understand our changing world than through the uniquely engaging perspectives provided by Elizabeth Kolbert. Joining her on this round-the-world voyage to some of the most incredible places on Earth is a treat ... Immensely sobering yet also inspiring -- Chris Fitch, author of Wild Cities Kolbert, in her clean, precise prose, asks us ... to be curious, to pay attention, and not look away from the imperilled beauty of our planet ... The book works well as a primer for the guiding issues and ideas that comprise 21st-century environmentalism ... Kolbert has a knack for elucidating abstract concepts - sea level rise, de-extinction, genetic engineering, invasive species - by locating them in particular places and people -- Adam Weymouth * Resurgence & Ecologist * Kolbert gracefully balances a realistic awareness of losses brought about by human activity -particularly by the use of fossil fuels - with a sense of wonder at just how much there is still to learn about this little-known planet and admiration for those who quixotically explore and attempt to heal it. ... Despair and hope dance together [ in these] thought-provoking speculations about a world on the edge of violent change * Kirkus Review, starred review * Kolbert brings every creature, place, person, fact, and issue to scintillating life in these deft, engaging, lucid, and thought-provoking dispatches covering 20 years of her world travels during epic planetary changes. ... Kolbert resolutely and brilliantly alerts us to how little we know about our precious planet, how much harm we do, and how we must and can do better * Booklist * There is a great deal that humanity doesnt know about how the world works, and expanding that knowledge may turn out to be crucial ... Life on a Little-known Planet is a worthwhile and convenient collection from one of the best-known writers on climate change and the environment * Library Journal * Life on a Little-known Planet is a master class in how to write about our changing world * Mother Jones Magazine * Kolbert has radically informed the way modern audiences understand climate change, and her newest collection is no exception, zooming into stories of hope, activism, and innovation across the globe * The Millions Magazine * PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH KOLBERT'S PREVIOUS BOOKS
One of the great science journalists, Kolbert has for many years been an essential voice, a reporter from the front lines of the environmental crisis ... Important, necessary, urgent and phenomenally interesting -- Helen Macdonald * New York Times * A meticulously researched and deftly crafted work of journalism that explores some of the biggest challenges of our age * Guardian * A wonderful book -- Barack Obama A terrific look at humanity's impact on the Earth -- Bill Gates [ Kolbert is] the premier chronicler of humanity's thoughtless destruction of our habitat * Washington Post * To be a well-informed citizen of Planet Earth, you need to read Elizabeth Kolbert Its a tribute to Kolberts skills as a storyteller that she transforms the quest to deal with the climate crisis into a darkly comic take of human hubris and imagination that could either end in flames or in a new vision of paradise * Rolling Stone * Our finest journalist on climate change * Chicago Tribune * Kolbert's reporting is, as always, skilful and subtle * Guardian * Kolberts beat is examining the impact of humans on the environment, and she does it better than basically everyone * Lit Hub * Whats exceptional about Kolberts writing is the combination of scientific rigour and wry humour that keeps you turning the pages * National Geographic * Kolbert [ has a] sculptor-like skill for making climate change feel tangible, happening before our eyes and beneath our fingers * Wired * Kolbert is a masterful, thought-provoking reporter * Boston Globe *
